A life-changing trip to Nepal

A team of volunteers from Cornerstone Church in Braintree report in from the Stand by Me children’s home in Nepal, to share their experience of their two week stay so far.

“Today everyone is working in small teams carrying out lots of different jobs. We are decorating the boy’s dormitory, painting their lockers, cleaning and painting windows, building the playground equipment, creating name plaques to personalise the children’s lockers and finishing off painting outside walls.

A lovely thing happened yesterday. We all went off to lunch, leaving the paint and brushes next to the boy’s block, ready to paint a wall after we’d eaten. When we came back to start work, the wall was painted already! The boys had gone ahead and done it without anyone suggesting they should. It was such a heart-warming moment. The children are taking ownership of the project which makes it all the more special for us to be working with them.

Four of the volunteers, David, Chris, Joshua and Michelle, took a trip to one of the villages in a remote region, which has a population of approximately 200 people. It is made up of families who have left the forest to build basic shacks alongside the river. In 2000, sadly many of these homes were swept away by floods and lives were lost.

The church there, with the support of another organisation, responded by building a couple of homes in which these homeless families could live. Two years ago, the church began to build a place of worship. Two days ago, the building was completed and opened and our four volunteers were invited to join them for the celebration and to speak.

The involvement of the church was amazing to see as previously, the villagers had been against the church building homes and intruding. The response from the local community began to change when the church dug a well which now provides the village with a constant supply of fresh water. It seems that the church is now very much a part of the community.

Yesterday, during a church service in the village an offering was taken. Bearing in mind these people have nothing in terms of possessions and they live a basic, simple lifestyle with one meal a day, our team mates were astonished when the offering was presented to them for their mission work back in the UK. On return to the home, the money was counted and it amounted to 3,300 rupees. That equates to around £25 and is the equivalent of more than a month’s wages. Many of the families here have about nine children to feed themselves. Talk about the widow’s mite. It was a profoundly challenging experience for all of us. God blessed all around.”